Author Archives: Willie Shoots

TOOL Spirals Out in Nashville [Review & Photo Gallery]

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Four years and six days to the date since last descending upon Nashville, genre transcending and now three time Best Metal Performance Grammy winning band Tool returned to Music City to fascinate their ever loyal fan base and captivate the uninitiated. Along for the ride and opening was Author & Punisher, who, as with most Tool tours, was an eccentric choice that most Tool fans wouldn’t necessarily encounter when shuffling ‘Tool Radio’ on their streaming service of choice.
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EXIT 111 FESTIVAL 2019: Sunday [Review & Photo Gallery]

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Days one and two of the inaugural Exit 111 Festival in Manchester, TN featured 30 bands and over 20 hours of southern rock, thrash, metalcore, alt rock and just about every other heavy music genre on one small farm in Middle Tennessee. Day three was poised to wrap things up with a bang, with another 15 bands and a scheduled three hour set from headliner and recently resurging late 80s rockers Guns N’ Roses. So pitter patter, let’s get at’er.

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EXIT 111 FESTIVAL 2019: Saturday [Review & Photo Gallery]

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Day one of Exit 111 (review and pics here) really set the bar high with a great mix of bands like Black Stone Cherry, Anthrax, 10 Years, Slayer, Killswitch Engage and classic rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd. Not to mention the amazing sunny fall Tennessee weather, with highs in the low 80s and the low reaching a cool but comfortable 44 degrees. But with temperatures promising to turn much cooler and steadily drop into the low 30s by nightfall, day two had to turn up the heat on stage in order to keep the campers toasty and the party rolling. So, at noon on Saturday, with college football in full swing at the Mega Sports Bar and a lineup of 18 bands scheduled for the day, the gates opened and the fans started pouring in. Continue reading →

EXIT 111 FESTIVAL 2019: Friday [Review & Photo Gallery]

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One of the most anticipated music festivals of the summer and fall since its announcement in early April, the first ever Exit 111 Festival, planted its rock n’ roll roots deep in the farm that Bonnaroo made iconic just south of Nashville, Tennessee. The three-day experience which took place from Friday, October, 11th, through Sunday, October 13th at Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tennessee, featured a monster musical lineup including Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Slayer, Killswitch Engage, Anthrax, ZZ Top, Ghost, Mastodon, Deftones, Coheed and Cambria, Lamb of God, and many more. In addition to the top-notch musical roster, Exit 111 featured The Paranormal Cirque, a world of combined theatre, circus, and cabaret presented by Cirque Italia; The Red Bull Freestyle Motocross Experience, showcasing the insane talents of some of the best freestyle motocross riders in the world; the Mega Sports Bar, offering everything from college football and the NFL to baseball and hockey games in the biggest damn sports bar you’ve ever seen; and the Exit 111 Car Show, the first ever all makes, all models car show, free to all Exit 111 ticket-holders. Continue reading →

MAC SABBATH, OKILLY DOKILLY & PLAYBOY MANBABY Bring the Cheese to Nashville [Review & Photo Gallery]

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Mac Sabbath

Sunday night in the heart of the bible belt, about 400 family and friends were observing the Sabbath in one of Nashville’s most iconic places of worship, the Exit/In. Preaching the evils of the fast food industry, “drive thru metal” pioneers Mac Sabbath brought one of the most entertaining tour lineups to the stage that I’ve experienced in my 40+ years on this planet for the American Cheese Tour. Joined by Homer Simpson’s favorite Christian neighbor Ned Flanders, well the five Ned Flanders of Okilly Dokilly to be exact, and fun-loving punk outfit Playboy Manbaby, the mix of raucous comedy and iconic Black Sabbath riffs kept the heads banging and the pit swirling the entire night. Continue reading →

KORN & ALICE IN CHAINS Twist Them Bones in Nashville [Review & Photo Gallery]

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Korn

The freak was unleashed and the man was let out of his box when genre defining heavyweights Korn and Alice In Chains brought their co-headlining tour to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN Friday night, with openers Underoath and Ho99o9 setting the tone early. The sixth stop of a 30 date US tour spanning mid-July to early September, Nashville once again proved a worthy host to all things metal as throngs of black t-shirt clad revelers funneled through the arena doors in fervent anticipation of coming undone. Continue reading →

MESHUGGAH & THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Bring the Heavy To Nashville [Review & Photo Gallery]

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Meshuggah

Swedish extreme metal innovators Meshuggah treated U.S. fans to a surprise when they announced they would hit the spring U.S. festival circuit and sprinkle in a handful of select cities across the states in between. In addition to Welcome to Rockville, the Epicenter Festival, the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival, and the Chicago Open Air Festival, Meshuggah chose to destroy six other lucky cities as they traversed the southern and northeastern states before heading to Europe this summer. Joining them on these select dates were Detroit, MI death metal veterans The Black Dahlia Murder. Continue reading →

COC, CROWBAR & More Get It On In Nashville [Review & Photo Gallery]

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COC

Southern stoner metal juggernauts Corrosion of Conformity wrapped up a long and winding 30 date North American tour in Music City with sludgy brothers in arms Crowbar, Maryland doom metal veterans The Obsessed, and Dallas based trio Mothership stopping by The Cowan to fire up an already atypically warm February evening. Continue reading →

10 YEARS Celebrates Division in Nashville [Review & Photo Gallery]

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10 Years

Continuing the 10th anniversary celebration of one of their more diverse albums, ‘Division,’ Knoxville rockers 10 Years stopped by their second TN home in Nashville to treat fans to some songs that haven’t been heard live in a long time and some for the first time. Helping whet the appetites of the growing crowd at The Cowan were local boys Sleep for the Weary, Lafayette, LA originated but now Nashville based The Other LA, and Chattanooga/Nashville alt rockers EMERGE. All three of these bands served as a crucial reminder to never sleep on the opening bands. Get to shows early, you never know when you’ll discover your new favorite band! Continue reading →

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, BORN OF OSIRIS, CROWBAR, & DEATH RAY VISION Rage In Chattanooga

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Killswitch Engage

After being forced to postpone a handful of dates back in the spring so lead vocalist Jesse Leach could undergo vocal cord surgery, Killswitch Engage was back with a vengeance for a quick ten date fall run (makeup dates plus a few bonus shows) that would see them finish out their US commitments in early December before heading overseas in early 2019. Joining in on the fun were one of Killswitch bass player Mike D’Antonio’s other bands Death Ray Vision, sludge metal kings the almighty Crowbar, and progressive metalcore quintet Born of Osiris. Continue reading →